Veles 29 Battery Questions

Hello folks, I am brand new to the forum and new at this in general (please bear with me). I just purchased the Veles 29 and have been reading for days about batteries. I am more confused now than before as I am hearing different and conflicting opinions from posts/youtube/etc. Can anyone here recommend a good battery setup? I was considering going with 3S x 2, but heard that may run too hot. The manual mentions running a 3S and 2S with the 3 on the left to help counteract prop force?? I just ordered a prop from Dasboata that should be here in a few days. Now I just need to settle on the batteries. Also, what brand is recommended? Again, the book says Dynamite Reaction HD 7.4V 50C or 11.1V 50C. Is there anything else you can recommend, or just stick with that?
Thanks in advance - I really appreciate anyone taking the time to advise.
Note: I just saw online that the Reaction HD's are discontinued? I guess the 2.0 is the update....?

Welcome to the forum. It's easy to get overwhelmed when everything is new. We've all been there. There are plenty of people here who will help you along and lots of posts to search through. The boat was really intended to run on 6S, which is two 3S batteries in series. What prop did you order from Dasboata? An ABC 1715 I assume? You want to buyquality packs which is loosely determined by two things: C rating (wildly overrated by most manufacturers), and manufacturer reputation. Trust batteries from companies like Revolectrix, Dinogy, and HobbyKing brands like Turnigy HD, Rhino, and their Graphene line. You want to shoot for a 50C minimum rating, and most of those brands sell packs right at that mark, or advertised slightly above. Avoid pranksters like MaxxAmps that sell 100C packs. Highly overpriced, highly overrated, and woefully under performing.

You'll likely need to solder on connectors to your new batteries that match the EC5 connectors on the ESC in your Veles. Sometimes you can choose that style connector from a manufacturer, but more times than not, you're on your own to source and install them yourself.

Thank you so very much for the response and kind words! After reading a little bit more, I ended up buying two of the Revolution 2.0 3S 50C's and a Passport P4 charger. The appeal with this charger (others may do it as well) was the ability to scan the battery QR code with my Dynamite phone app and it programs the charger to the appropriate specs for that battery. Kind of dumbs it down somewhat. I have a neighbor who wanted to loan me two Traxxas 3S 50C packs and the Traxxas charger to go with them, but I am not sure if I can use those in a marine setting. They seem encased, but I read where you should be careful with what you run in marine applications... only batteries specified for this setup should be used.
Thanks again for responding!

Hard case batteries will work in a boat, but they're not recommend. The cases can trap water, which is no good. The cases can hide signs of swelling, which is no good. The cases can also trap in heat, usually no good. They were designed for cars and such to protect the lipo cells from impact damage. We boaters don't have that problem, but pull significantly more current from our packs than most other RC hobbies, so we have our own set of issues to worry about.